Our Advocate with the Father

First John 1:8–10 teaches us that the Christian life involves the ongoing recognition and confession of sin (1 John 1:8–10). In today’s verse, John guards that teaching against a possible distortion. Some might hear the promise of forgiveness and conclude that since sin will always be forgiven, sin itself is not a serious matter. John addresses this danger head-on.

The Apostle’s tone changes as he opens this section. He addresses his readers as “my little children” (2:1), a tender term that he will return to repeatedly throughout the letter. John writes as a father in the faith to those whom he loves. And to these beloved children he says first what every faithful pastor must say: “I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.” The promise of cleansing is not given so that we may treat sin lightly but so that we may walk in fellowship with the God who is light without being crushed when we fail.

The Christian life is thus oriented toward the cessation of sin. We are not content with sin; we desire to be free from it. The Apostle Paul made the same point when he asked rhetorically whether we should continue in sin that grace may abound, and he answered emphatically: “By no means!” (Rom. 6:1–2). The grace of God is never an excuse for sin. It is rather the engine of holy living, the foundation on which the war against sin can be waged with confidence.

But, John continues, sin nevertheless does occur in the lives of those who belong to Christ. “If anyone does sin,” he writes, “we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” The Greek word translated “advocate” is paraklētos. It can carry the sense of a legal defender, a comforter, or a helper. John has in mind primarily the legal sense here. When the believer sins, an accuser stands ready to demand his condemnation. But Christ stands at the Father’s side as the believer’s defender, pleading on his behalf the merit of His own perfect righteousness.

It is essential to grasp the title given here. Christ is “the righteous,” and His advocacy succeeds because He Himself is altogether righteous. He pleads not our righteousness, which is filthy rags, but His own, which is spotless. His perfect obedience and propitiating death are the ground of His intercession. He stands before the Father not as a sinner pleading for sinners but as the righteous One who has secured the forgiveness of His people by His own blood. This is why the believer’s confession of sin meets with mercy rather than wrath.